The (English: Museum of America) is a Spanish

national museum A national museum is a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In other countries a much greater numb ...

of arts, archaeology and ethnography in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. Its collections cover the whole of the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

and range from the

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...

period to the present day. It is owned by the Spanish State and its initial pieces came from the former collection of American archaeological and ethnographic artifacts from the National Archaeological Museum, also exhibiting a number of unrelated donations, deposits and purchases.

History

The institution was founded via a decree from 19 April 1941 and opened in 1944 inside the building hosting the National Archaeological Museum. After all the initial pieces were moved to a newly built premises in the Ciudad Universitaria, the building was thus inaugurated on 12 October 1965. After a series of refurbishment works on the building (previously shared with a number of unrelated institutions), the museum was reopened on 12 October 1994, this time while holding the exclusivity on the use of the building. As part of preparation for the re-opening, a collecting programme was established, with Dominican and Haitian artefacts sourced by the anthropologist

Soraya Aracena Soraya Aracena is a anthropologist and curator from the Dominican Republic, who specialises in the religious and cultural practices of black Caribbean communities. In additional to her research she has also founded cultural festivals and an ethnog ...

Collection

The permanent exhibit is divided into five major thematic areas: *''An awareness of the Americas'' *''The reality of the Americas'' *''Society'' *''Religion'' *''Communication'' Image:Vasija mochica crustáceo (M. América Inv.1409) 01.jpg, Ceramic vessel representing a crustacean.

Moche culture The Moche civilization (; alternatively, the Mochica culture or the Early, Pre- or Proto-Chimú) flourished in northern Peru with its capital near present-day Moche, Trujillo, Peru from about 100 to 700 AD during the Regional Development Epoch. ...

artwork from Peru. Image:Moro_helmet,_Philippines_(M._América,_Madrid)_01.jpg, Bronze helmet of a 16th-century Spanish soldier. Image:Vasija Chimú sexual (M. América, Madrid) 01.jpg,

Chimú Chimor (also Kingdom of Chimor or Chimú Empire) was the political grouping of the Chimú culture. The culture arose about 900 AD, succeeding the Moche culture, and was later conquered by the Inca emperor Topa Inca Yupanqui around 1470, fifty y ...

vessel showing a sexual act between men. Image:Casco y collera de lobo tlingit (M. América, Madrid) 02.jpg, Helmet and collar made by the

Tlingit people The Tlingit ( or ; also spelled Tlinkit) are indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their language is the Tlingit language (natively , pronounced ),

(late 18th century). Image:Museo de América Quimbaya treasure 02.jpg, (200–1000 AD) Image:La sevilla del sigloXVI.jpg, View of

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

, attributed to

Alonso Sánchez Coello Alonso Sánchez Coello ( 1531 – 8 August 1588) was an Iberian portrait painter of the Spanish Renaissance, Spanish and Portuguese Renaissance. He is mainly known for his portrait paintings executed in a style which combines the objectivity of t ...

(late 16th century) Image:Estela (47702715951).jpg, Maya (600–900 AD) Image:Vasija que representa a un pescador tocando la flauta. Cultura Nazca (100 a. C.-700 d. C.). Museo de América.jpg,

Nazca Nazca (; sometimes spelled Nasca; qu, Naska) is a city and system of valleys on the southern coast of Peru. It is also the name of the largest existing town in the Nazca Province. The name is derived from the Nazca culture, which flourished in ...

pot (1–600 AD) Image:Facsímil Códice Tudela.JPG, Aztec

Codex Tudela The Codex Tudela is a 16th-century pictorial Aztec codex. It is based on the same prototype as the Codex Magliabechiano, the Codex Ixtlilxochitl, and other documents of the Magliabechiano Group. Little is known about the codex's history. The Sp ...

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * *

External links

''Northwest Coast art in the Museo de América''
Mesoamerican art museums

Pre-Columbian art museums

Art museums established in 1941 1941 establishments in Spain Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in Madrid Buildings and structures in Ciudad Universitaria neighborhood, Madrid {{coord, 40.4383, -3.7220, format=dms, type:landmark_region:ES, display=title

History

Collection

See also

References

External links